CONTACT:
Jerelyn Wilson
802-257-7300, ext. 102
jerelyn@BuildingGreen.com

BuildingGreen Announces Top-10 Green Building Products

Pittsburgh, PA, November 12, 2003--BuildingGreen, Inc., publisher of the GreenSpec® Product Directory and Environmental Building News™, today announced its 2003 selections of the Top-10 new green building products. This second annual award, announced at the U.S. Green Building Council's Greenbuild Conference in Pittsburgh, recognizes the most exciting products added to the GreenSpec Directory during the past year (though some products may have been on the market longer).

"Material selection is a key aspect of green building," notes GreenSpec coeditor Alex Wilson. "Our product selections this year show off some of the tremendous innovation we're seeing in the building products industry." The BuildingGreen Top-10 products cover a wide spectrum of products and applications. Some are used primarily in commercial buildings, others in residential applications. Some are considered green because they are made from recycled-content or biobased materials, others because they save water or are highly durable. One of the winners actually helps restore damaged ecosystems. Included in the Top-10 products are a sensor-activated faucet in which a tiny hydropower turbine keeps the sensor batteries charged, an innovative "smart" vapor retarder whose permeability increases as relative humidity rises, and a line of laboratory casework made from straw-based particleboard.

"In the twelve years that we've been tracking green building products," notes Wilson, "new product offerings have never been more exciting or more varied." One important driver of this innovation is the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED™ Rating System (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design). "Designers of LEED buildings are looking for green products, and manufacturers are responding," says Wilson. "This trend shows no evidence of slowing," he added.

The 2003 BuildingGreen Top-10 products are listed below. More complete descriptions and contact information are provided on the attached pages:

• EnvironOxide pigment from Hoover Color Corporation in cooperation with Iron Oxide Recovery, Inc.;
• BioBase 501 soy-based foam insulation from BioBased Systems, Inc.;
• MemBrain "smart" vapor retarder made by CertainTeed parent company Saint Gobain;
• American Pride latex paint produced by Southern Diversified Products in cooperation with the University of Southern Mississippi;
• Mineral silicate paints made by Keim Mineral Systems;
• EnviroGT wall and corner guards made by InPro Corporation;
• Laboratory casework from Case Systems, Inc.;
• Mirra office chair from Herman Miller, Inc.;
• Hot Water D'MAND system from Taco, Inc.;
• EcoPower faucets from TOTO USA, Inc.

GreenSpec is the leading national directory of green building products. The products in the 1,750-plus listings in the directory are selected by editors of Environmental Building News (EBN) based on criteria developed over the past 12 years. Manufacturers do not pay to be listed in GreenSpec, and neither GreenSpec nor EBN carries advertising; both are supported by users of the information. "This policy of not accepting money from manufacturers ensures that we will objectively review products for inclusion," said Wilson. A new 4th edition of the printed GreenSpec Directory has just been published. The online version of GreenSpec, which is available as part of the newly launched BuildingGreen Suite, has several additional features, including an ability to sort products by relevance to LEED credits. Environmental Building News, launched in 1992, is the most widely respected publication in the green building field. For information on BuildingGreen resources, visit www.BuildingGreen.com or call 800-861-0954.

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